https://www.nbcnews.com/pop-culture/pop-...y-n1181076
INTRO: Celebrities are fleeing urban coronavirus hotspots for Wyoming, Montana and other Western rural regions, a move experts are criticizing as dangerous to those who live in those areas year-round, fearing their relocation may cause added stress to an already severely limited healthcare infrastructure.
"These moves have been a huge concern for us," Alan Morgan, chief executive officer of the National Rural Health Association (NRHA), told NBC News. "It's such a bad idea for upper income urban people to hunker down in these areas and potentially place added pressure on a health care system that was designed for primary care and general surgery, not for pandemic surge response."
Morgan said that as of Friday afternoon, there are more than 16,000 cases of coronavirus scattered across rural counties nationally. Hospitals in these areas have one to two ventilators on site on average, he said, and more than half of rural counties in the United States have no intensive care beds at all, according to a recent Kaiser Health News Data analysis.
[,,,] "While I do find it to be a big problem that smaller communities are being inundated with wealthy outsiders, especially from celebrities who have a following and could unintentionally cause people to travel, I don't know if they are going to tip the balance off for resources when these communities are already strapped," Montana Miller, an associate professor of pop culture at Bowling Green State University, said. "I think the more troubling aspect is how out of touch and self-pitying these celebrities are and their complete lack of perspective."
She cited Ellen DeGeneres' joke comparing social distancing in her home to prison and a video of celebrities led by Gal Godot singing John Lennon's "Imagine" — both of which were publicly ridiculed — as examples. "They're singing 'imagine no possessions' surrounded by possessions, meanwhile there are healthcare workers who can't get PPE [personal protective equipment]," Miller said.
At least one celebrity has donated money to buy ventilators for Montana
Celebrities have been buying homes in rural areas of the country in recent years... (MORE)
INTRO: Celebrities are fleeing urban coronavirus hotspots for Wyoming, Montana and other Western rural regions, a move experts are criticizing as dangerous to those who live in those areas year-round, fearing their relocation may cause added stress to an already severely limited healthcare infrastructure.
"These moves have been a huge concern for us," Alan Morgan, chief executive officer of the National Rural Health Association (NRHA), told NBC News. "It's such a bad idea for upper income urban people to hunker down in these areas and potentially place added pressure on a health care system that was designed for primary care and general surgery, not for pandemic surge response."
Morgan said that as of Friday afternoon, there are more than 16,000 cases of coronavirus scattered across rural counties nationally. Hospitals in these areas have one to two ventilators on site on average, he said, and more than half of rural counties in the United States have no intensive care beds at all, according to a recent Kaiser Health News Data analysis.
[,,,] "While I do find it to be a big problem that smaller communities are being inundated with wealthy outsiders, especially from celebrities who have a following and could unintentionally cause people to travel, I don't know if they are going to tip the balance off for resources when these communities are already strapped," Montana Miller, an associate professor of pop culture at Bowling Green State University, said. "I think the more troubling aspect is how out of touch and self-pitying these celebrities are and their complete lack of perspective."
She cited Ellen DeGeneres' joke comparing social distancing in her home to prison and a video of celebrities led by Gal Godot singing John Lennon's "Imagine" — both of which were publicly ridiculed — as examples. "They're singing 'imagine no possessions' surrounded by possessions, meanwhile there are healthcare workers who can't get PPE [personal protective equipment]," Miller said.
At least one celebrity has donated money to buy ventilators for Montana
Celebrities have been buying homes in rural areas of the country in recent years... (MORE)